News Posts

Contradictory explanations for the evolution of nectar-drinking in a diverse group of bats have long puzzled scientists, but new research led by the American Museum of Natural History and Stony Brook University provides a clear answer.

The conflicting explanations come from two different types of data. Genetic data suggest that nectar feeding evolved twice in New World leaf-nosed bats whereas earlier analyses of the bats’ anatomy point to a single origin of nectar feeding. These bats are found in Central and South America and, uniquely among bats, eat nectar, fruit, frogs, lizards, and blood.

The landscape of human language is complex, and tracing the origins of the 7,000 known modern languages has been a significant challenge for scientists. An analysis by a researcher at the University of Auckland in New Zealand points to a familiar place: Africa, the birthplace of our species.

Why is it that humans can speak but chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, cannot? The human brain is uniquely wired to produce language. Untangling this wiring is a major frontier of brain research. Peer into the mental machinery behind language with this Science Bulletins feature, which visits a brain-scanning laboratory, Columbia University's Program for Imaging and Cognitive Sciences (PICS). Columbia neuroscientist Joy Hirsch and New York University psychologist Gary Marcus explain what researchers have learned about how our brain tackles language—and what's left to learn.

On October 27, Theodore Roosevelt’s 154th birthday, the Museum will officially reopen the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial and the Hall of North American Mammals, launching a year-long celebration of Roosevelt’s love of nature and his instrumental role in the American conservation movement, both inspired by his lifelong association with the Museum.

In the Solomon Islands, an archipelago of some 1,000 islands east of Papua New Guinea, the Museum is partnering with indigenous communities to improve biodiversity conservation within ancient customary lands. This summer, Michael Esbach, Pacific Programs manager in the Museum’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC), travelled to three of these islands with CBC Pacific Programs Director Christopher Filardi and CBC Director Eleanor Sterling.